This smells more than the horse poop at the Police stables. Mr Ginsburg seems intent on turning the park into an ATM by whatever means necessary. I believe there will be more shady deals that will be brought to light that the commission has made. All candidates for mayor need to be asked a few questions on where they stand on the park and how they plan to clean up the Parks Dept. (HInt do not ask anyone over at building inspection or Park & Rec)
this “controversy” is ridiculous. The current concessionaires run a tired business of a tired part of the park that is not doing the public a service. they have had countless years of a veritable monopoly to spruce things up. Every public contract has to be bid out every now and then. As a richmond resident and frequent stow lake visitor who constantly laments the sad offerings and investment at stow lake, I applaud bringing in a new concessionaire. I frankly don’t care who paid what to whom to do PR or lobbying for whom. The fact is that no vendor can have a protected monopoly and be immune from being replaced. Not Recology. Not the McLellans. Nobody. Evey public contract, particularly ones that lease out public land, need to get the public the best deal for the best public service.
I frequent Stow Lake and relish that this is one of the things I can actually afford to do in the park. I have heard the low price of a hot-dog as a negative – “they aren’t charging enough,” they say. I have fun every time I visit. The boats are just fine, if not glamourous. I am fearful that a vendor chosen to maximize profits for the park will do so by charging a price that I cannot pay. The big lines of people queued up on a nice day is proof enough that people are utilizing and enjoying this attraction in its current form.
Aside from the above carpetbagger’s point of view, there is a historical value to the boathouse, as well as a cultural one. My family, as many other inner/Outer Richmond families, see the boathouse as a pillar of our neighborhood. I see it as just that, a simple functioning boathouse that is both affordable, and carries a tradition even my mother shared when she was a little girl.
To ‘not care who paid what to whom” is the same consumeristic plague killing the culture of our neighborhood park, that has a steeped history. The exposure of dirty politics and back-room deals further the ‘elitist’ attitude of those whose only stake in our community is real estate value, and show our representatives have no connection to our neighborhood whatsoever. The ‘best deal for the public’ is obviously a narrow-minded view of what the ‘public’ should be, and it doesn’t include people who can’t afford Nannies, BMW Station wagons, or $600.00 strollers.
My family has lived in the Richmond since the house was built in 32′. We have seen changes both good, bad and ridiculous, but none so dirty as to undermine a family business, based solely on some new ‘vision’ of GG Parks future. If they really want to improve the park, help the families upgrade their historic building and keep the culture alive. The park has already reamed the ‘Louie’s” restaurant from a historic breakfast nook my grandparents went on dates at, to a soon to be wheat-grass-fed-beef,sustainable money pit for the sake of keeping their family business.
What I find surprising is that local residents actually wrote on behalf of Ortega (an entity that no one here knows about) to win the bid. That to me is fishy. I can understand if this is a battle of local businesses but Ortega is in another state.
Yes I think Phil G and the rest of those commissioners (with the exception of Commissioner Lee) were bought. The stupid Bored of Stupidvisors (including our very own special Stupidvisor Mar bought it hook line and sinker).
Notice none of the Stupidvisors who voted unaminously to approve the contract is saying anything.
Ortega, how many palms did you grease to win this contract?
Right or wrong, since when is hiring political consultants/activists news in this town? The existing vendor launched a (unsuccessful) political effort of its own. From what I can tell, the Ortega plan was superior to the one put forth by the existing vendor. I’m glad it was approved. Phil G is doing a very good job in my opinion. He has increased revenues to help offset cuts to Rec & Park without crass commercialization.
Ginsburg was wrong to recommend Tourk to the Ortegas. Tourk was wrong not to report his lobbying efforts. This whole affair stinks to high heaven. I suggest the Ortega deal be killed and the entire process should start over. Oh, and to make sure it doesn’t happen like this again, Ginsburg should be fired.
Lobbying is one thing, but this truly troubling that RecPark itself engaged in manipulating the public meeting process. “Stacking public meetings with supporters” is to perpetrate the fraud that attendees represent the community’s opinion. It’s little different from salting a hill with gold and selling that as productive land. Fake opinions take up meeting time and crowd out genuine community commentary which the meetings are held to seek. We taxpayers have a right to know when the public process devolves into a corrupted dog & pony show. Journalists, please don’t be duped when you report on community opinions. We need genuine public input not paid-for yes men.
My family has been in the Richmond since ’17 and this is all about lining pockets. Ginsburg is the worst thing that ever happened to RecPark. We’ll soon be hearing about more “accounting” issues like that of the Concourse Parking Garage.
Nothing should ever change from the golden era I grew up in. Actually the Inner Richmond should be bulldozed and the racetrack that was there in 1905 should replace all that crass housing.
This smells more than the horse poop at the Police stables. Mr Ginsburg seems intent on turning the park into an ATM by whatever means necessary. I believe there will be more shady deals that will be brought to light that the commission has made. All candidates for mayor need to be asked a few questions on where they stand on the park and how they plan to clean up the Parks Dept. (HInt do not ask anyone over at building inspection or Park & Rec)
this “controversy” is ridiculous. The current concessionaires run a tired business of a tired part of the park that is not doing the public a service. they have had countless years of a veritable monopoly to spruce things up. Every public contract has to be bid out every now and then. As a richmond resident and frequent stow lake visitor who constantly laments the sad offerings and investment at stow lake, I applaud bringing in a new concessionaire. I frankly don’t care who paid what to whom to do PR or lobbying for whom. The fact is that no vendor can have a protected monopoly and be immune from being replaced. Not Recology. Not the McLellans. Nobody. Evey public contract, particularly ones that lease out public land, need to get the public the best deal for the best public service.
I frequent Stow Lake and relish that this is one of the things I can actually afford to do in the park. I have heard the low price of a hot-dog as a negative – “they aren’t charging enough,” they say. I have fun every time I visit. The boats are just fine, if not glamourous. I am fearful that a vendor chosen to maximize profits for the park will do so by charging a price that I cannot pay. The big lines of people queued up on a nice day is proof enough that people are utilizing and enjoying this attraction in its current form.
Aside from the above carpetbagger’s point of view, there is a historical value to the boathouse, as well as a cultural one. My family, as many other inner/Outer Richmond families, see the boathouse as a pillar of our neighborhood. I see it as just that, a simple functioning boathouse that is both affordable, and carries a tradition even my mother shared when she was a little girl.
To ‘not care who paid what to whom” is the same consumeristic plague killing the culture of our neighborhood park, that has a steeped history. The exposure of dirty politics and back-room deals further the ‘elitist’ attitude of those whose only stake in our community is real estate value, and show our representatives have no connection to our neighborhood whatsoever. The ‘best deal for the public’ is obviously a narrow-minded view of what the ‘public’ should be, and it doesn’t include people who can’t afford Nannies, BMW Station wagons, or $600.00 strollers.
My family has lived in the Richmond since the house was built in 32′. We have seen changes both good, bad and ridiculous, but none so dirty as to undermine a family business, based solely on some new ‘vision’ of GG Parks future. If they really want to improve the park, help the families upgrade their historic building and keep the culture alive. The park has already reamed the ‘Louie’s” restaurant from a historic breakfast nook my grandparents went on dates at, to a soon to be wheat-grass-fed-beef,sustainable money pit for the sake of keeping their family business.
What I find surprising is that local residents actually wrote on behalf of Ortega (an entity that no one here knows about) to win the bid. That to me is fishy. I can understand if this is a battle of local businesses but Ortega is in another state.
Yes I think Phil G and the rest of those commissioners (with the exception of Commissioner Lee) were bought. The stupid Bored of Stupidvisors (including our very own special Stupidvisor Mar bought it hook line and sinker).
Notice none of the Stupidvisors who voted unaminously to approve the contract is saying anything.
Ortega, how many palms did you grease to win this contract?
Right or wrong, since when is hiring political consultants/activists news in this town? The existing vendor launched a (unsuccessful) political effort of its own. From what I can tell, the Ortega plan was superior to the one put forth by the existing vendor. I’m glad it was approved. Phil G is doing a very good job in my opinion. He has increased revenues to help offset cuts to Rec & Park without crass commercialization.
Ginsburg was wrong to recommend Tourk to the Ortegas. Tourk was wrong not to report his lobbying efforts. This whole affair stinks to high heaven. I suggest the Ortega deal be killed and the entire process should start over. Oh, and to make sure it doesn’t happen like this again, Ginsburg should be fired.
Lobbying is one thing, but this truly troubling that RecPark itself engaged in manipulating the public meeting process. “Stacking public meetings with supporters” is to perpetrate the fraud that attendees represent the community’s opinion. It’s little different from salting a hill with gold and selling that as productive land. Fake opinions take up meeting time and crowd out genuine community commentary which the meetings are held to seek. We taxpayers have a right to know when the public process devolves into a corrupted dog & pony show. Journalists, please don’t be duped when you report on community opinions. We need genuine public input not paid-for yes men.
My family has been in the Richmond since ’17 and this is all about lining pockets. Ginsburg is the worst thing that ever happened to RecPark. We’ll soon be hearing about more “accounting” issues like that of the Concourse Parking Garage.
Nothing should ever change from the golden era I grew up in. Actually the Inner Richmond should be bulldozed and the racetrack that was there in 1905 should replace all that crass housing.